I have 2 flamenco guitars one almost 40 years old and the other only 6. Both have a buzz on the D string, especially when I play a pull off (legato) from any fret to the open D. With a capo or without I do not get a nice clean sound. The buzz gets worse after playing for a while and when the strings get older. I have tried changing my technique but only found that the more forceful I play the worse it gets. All the other strings and positions are fine and the only buzz I get are from a sloppy left hand.
Anyone else have this problem? Is it something about the D strings or the guitars?

ecwriter wrote:I have 2 flamenco guitars one almost 40 years old and the other only 6. Both have a buzz on the D string, especially when I play a pull off (legato) from any fret to the open D. With a capo or without I do not get a nice clean sound. The buzz gets worse after playing for a while and when the strings get older. I have tried changing my technique but only found that the more forceful I play the worse it gets. All the other strings and positions are fine and the only buzz I get are from a sloppy left hand.
Anyone else have this problem? Is it something about the D strings or the guitars?

I haven't had buzzing that is limited to the D-string. How much space is there between the D-string and the 12th fret without a capo? How does that space compare to the spacings of other strings from the 12th fret?

If the saddles have developed V-shaped notches or have been filed irregularly to make the D-string lower than the other strings that could cause D-string buzzing.

-Bob

Another possibility is that some time in the past someone may have shimmed only the bass ends of the bridges of those guitars to eliminate bass string buzzing and that over time the center portions have bowed downward due to the combined forces of middle strings causing the D-string to be too low.

-Bob

Bob I'm not sure I understand the question about space of the D string at the 12th fret, but as far I can see all the bass strings are the same height.
Yes on both guitars all the bass strings have a V notch. Perhaps this is why the buzzing is a fairly new phenomenon on the 6 year old. Should I perhaps try to file the bone saddle flat, or just replace the bone saddle if this makes the action too low? If I measure from the bass E to the top of the 12th fret I'm at about 3mm.
Ed

V-shaped notches won't cause buzzing unless the notches have developed over time causing the D-strings on those two guitars to be too close to the frets. You shouldn't file the saddles, because filing down to the bottoms of the notches won't stop the buzzing and filing beyond that level will cause the buzzing to increase.

As a temporary fix you could put a thin piece of hard material of some kind (such as a very small piece of thin metal bent in an inverted U-shape to fit over the saddle) between the saddle and the D-string on each guitar to raise those strings slightly higher, but the best fix will be to obtain new saddle blanks that you can shape with a file to be slightly higher at the D-string.

-Bob

Ed, For me the D string tends to buzz more or perhaps the buzz is just more noticeable on it on a low action guitar. You say yours is at 3 mm which is puzzling to me. Also you say both guitars which leads me to believe maybe it is the brand and tension of string. You might try a high tension string just on the D and a brand like D' Addario J45. The main reason I get buzz is my action is set at 1.8mm and especially when using ligato and my little finger, I don't press hard enough and play off the side of the little finger instead of the tip. Maybe since the action is at 3mm you are not pressing hard enough which would show up on ligatos. Also if you are using low tension strings this could be the problem. I find hard tension a little hard to play so I use medium with a very low action. Since both guitars have the problem I am guessing it is a playing technique issue or a string tension issue. I find the J45 basses buzz less because they are a smoother string and also wear longer. I also notice on the style of flamenco I play that the D string gets about twice as much action as the others and probably 70% of the ligato action. You might watch how much you use the D compared to the others and this might give you a clue. You might want to invest in several saddles and try lowering the action making it easier to play, try a high tension string, and see if this helps or hinders.

I think Sam's advice to try different strings is good, because it is strange that you have a buzzing problem with 3mm of clearance at the 12th fret.

Another issue could be fret wear if your guitars have been played a lot more at some frets than others. Are there low spots in some fret wires under the D-string? If so, the frets may need to be resurfaced or replaced. I wouldn't do that myself if the guitars are valuable, because correct alignment of all the frets with the strings above is critical and it would be best to have that done by an experienced luthier.

The frets on my Ramirez flamenco had some low spots due to wear, and according to Peter Tsiorba, didn't appear to have been perfectly aligned at the Ramirez shop when the guitar was made years ago. I left the guitar with him for a few days last year. When I returned to pick it up he had filed the frets down so they were perfectly aligned and he had polished them to make them absolutely smooth and shiny.

I had shimmed the saddle higher to reduce string buzzing before he did that. After his fret work it was possible to remove the shim which lowered the strings and made the guitar easier to play.

Many old guitars probably could be improved by some luthier adjustments to compensate for wear, wood changes over time, or, as in the case of my Ramirez, fixing setup that wasn't perfect from the beginning. The cost to have that done is nominal compared to the value of a quality guitar. I would have had it done much sooner if I had known how much it would improve the guitar.

-Bob

ecwriter,

Chasing the source of buzzing can be frustrating, as the reasons are rarely limited to one specific spot. It could be strings, or frets near where it buzzes. Or sometimes it could be the frets that are way up the neck, and are not even near the spot where you experience buzzing. Or it could be something completely unrelated, such as string contact with other strings, pegs, etc. at the headstock. Etc. Etc. Etc.

In many cases, buzzing is a compound problem of frets, wear at the nut, saddle, as well as wood deformation (bending of the neck) which derails proper fret alignment.

I wish to give you a specific prescription, but this is a bit like a doctor's visit. Symptoms may be caused by a condition that is not apparent to me without seeing the guitar in person. In the absence of a visual inspection of your guitar, my intuition tells me that problematic spots are at the nut or fret level. 3mm is a relatively high action for a flamenco guitar, so I doubt any wear at the saddle would create buzzing. Even if your saddle wore down by 1/4mm at the D string, you are still within "normal" 2.5mm action.

Thanks for all the tips and insight.
During the past year I have tried 8 different string brands with different tensions, not to fix the buzz problem but just to find the best for each guitar. I have 4 more yet to try. So far the best sound I get are from Savarez Alliance 540 ARJ (high tension bass and regular trebles). Yes high tension are harder to play. D' Addario J45 were my regular brand until a couple of years ago when I must have run into a bad batch. New strings would snap, the metal winding on the basses disintegrated like I had never seen before and the tone was not as bright as they used to be. I must say that the company was very good about it. At their request I sent back the defective strings for analysis and they sent me replacements plus some extras. They must have found something because a few months later they sent me some more. Perhaps it's time to give them another try.
Oddly I do not get a buzz playing a rest stroke with the thumb, but a pull off from the second or third fret to the open D is quite annoying. The buzz is much worse on the older guitar. My untrained eye can't see a difference between the two guitars. I have a very strong legato perhaps too strong, with the D string getting more than its fair share.
Last week I ordered an new guitar from Jeff Sigurdson who said he would do his best to avoid the D buzz. I will have to wait close to a year to see if he is successful. In the mean time I guess it wouldn't hurt to replace the saddle bone.
Thanks again.
Ed

Peter Tsiorba wrote:In the absence of a visual inspection of your guitar, my intuition tells me that problematic spots are at the nut or fret level.

It seems to me that nut height would be irrelevant where "With a capo or without I do not get a nice clean sound," unless the D-string is vibrating against a fret behind the capo. That is possible, but buzzing behind the capo wouldn't be very loud compared to buzzing between the capo and saddle.

He could simply tie a cloth around the neck behind the capo, or slip a cloth between the strings and frets behind the capo, to learn whether the buzzing stops.

-Bob